


A Glimpse Into The Future

by WhiteWitchDark



Series: I'm Outta Here [1]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:27:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22670218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteWitchDark/pseuds/WhiteWitchDark
Summary: Post DMC-5.  Life moves on.  Now back in the human world, Dante and Vergil attempt to navigate it.  Not all enemies can be fought with swords though and the current threat is a little to close to home.
Relationships: Dante/Vergil (Devil May Cry)
Series: I'm Outta Here [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1630876
Comments: 6
Kudos: 74





	1. Personal Head Canon

Just to clear a few things up before we start… DMC’s world is not well thought out, or if it was, they didn’t explain it very well. While that worked in game, it doesn’t really provide enough info to create a world for fanfiction from, so like all fanfiction authors, I’ve had to improvise… bear with me

I find it too far-fetched for all the demon hunting jobs are done privately, by small independent companies like DMC. To me, it makes sense for there to be a centralised bounty system, where the hunters get paid by the kill, covering most of public areas. Private jobs are then limited to private property or expedience, for example a building company bringing in a hunter early to clear a site before construction starts. This then leads to having some big companies, international mercenary outfits basically, who would do demon hunting as well. Outside of having a local hybrid, the kind of firepower they could bring to bear seems the only way the more powerful demons could be dealt with without military support.

The idea that DMC and other demon hunters could operate without indemnity or damage insurance is one of the more bizarre aspects of the game given the amount of collateral damage associated with the job. Seriously, Kalina Ann? So, I felt I needed a justification for his financial situation that wasn’t either ‘bad at business’ or alcoholism. Alongside believing that hunters would have to be registered and regulated in some manner, like private security or PIs, this is the basis for my idea about the fraud investigation. Given the number of demons Dante goes through in game, it fits that his kill count would be huge and the claims he’s putting in would raise some eyebrows.

Dante used the name Tony Redgrave when he was younger and since demon hunting would require the skills learnt in a combat job, I think he would have registered as a hunter using it. It’s not clear how much the general population knew about Sparda, but he was obviously a well-known figure in some circles. While his marriage and family might have been hidden, I don’t think Dante would show up as human if someone did a blood test on him. All the forgeries had already been made for Tony’s identity, so again, I see him continuing to use it, even after he gave Morrison his real name.

For what it’s worth, DMC doesn’t look like it’s in an American city to me, but outside of Fortuna, it also doesn’t look like a European one. I’m also still not sure if the shop is in Redgrave City or Capulet. So, I’m mix-matching European and USA tradition and laws as suits. And on that note – sex between two adult brothers is legal in France (Europe) and Rhode Island (USA) to give an example from either side of the pond. It’s quite an interesting topic to read up on (although I pity anyone tasked with checking my search history)


	2. A Glimpse Into The Future

_Registration Number: 13538AR_

_Mr Redgrave,_

_All demon hunters currently registered in Capulet City are required to attend a meeting at the Grand Plaza Hotel on 15 February at 13:00. Your attendance is mandatory…_

Dante kicked his booted feet out under the table, crossed his ankles and slouched back in his chair. The conference room was half full of garishly dressed devil hunters, making his red trench coat, black shirt and red leather trousers look tame in comparison. He, at least, wasn’t obviously armed with anything but Ivory and Ebony unlike one guy dressed in fur and faux demon hide with a battle axe strapped to his back or ‘Ol Cal Mitchen with his signature shotgun, read devil arm, against his shoulder. It looked like most, if not all of those registered in the city were planning to show up to the Grand Crown Plaza Hotel. Of course, the invite, if it could be called that, hadn’t had a ‘decline’ option on it. 

Demon hunters weren’t called in for meetings often, mostly they got left to their own devices unless something big happened. It wasn’t that the fine upstanding public servants in the police force and the council offices didn’t like dealing with the hunters, more that no one had ever quite agreed where to put them. Technically their operations were under the police’s jurisdiction, but their registration, monitoring, payments and everything else were under the council because they were civilians… with gun permits… and military or police training… and a habit of shooting first… and hunted things for a living… yeah, how did they class as civilians again? 

Idly, he reached out to find the other half of his soul and got an icy slap for the effort. But Virgil was calm and relaxed, so it was more for show then anything. He didn’t stop Dante rubbing up against him, like a giant demon wolf tangling into his soul and Dante closed his eyes and let the demon out to play, feeling Vergil tangling himself right back, petting at each other like cats – giant demonic cats, but still. The slip slide sent shivers dancing over his nerves. In moments like this, when his demonic nature pushed away from his humanity, he always wondered if he was the demon, or if the thing was inside him. He allowed himself to bask in Vergil’s presence in his soul for a minute longer, wondering what his brother was doing, then pulled himself back to reality with a sigh. He missed Vergil, hadn’t had him for nearly long enough after they got back from hell. But Vergil wanted to spend some time with Nero; and Dante… well Dante had to come to this damned meeting. 

Morrison dropped heavily into the seat beside him, a Styrofoam cup in his hand, “Tony” he nodded knowing Dante has been aware of his approach despite looking like he was napping. He took his hat off and put in on the table before patting his thinning grey hair with a hand two shades darker than his coffee.

“Morrison.”

Lady and Trish sat down on his other side, and Lady graciously put a coffee down in front of him. “Thanks”.

“Do you know what this is about?” Lady asked, taking a gulp of her own drink, a mocha by the smell of it. Lady did like her chocolate.

“Rumour has it that one of the big hunter corps wants to set up shop here.” Morrison said slowly, “Not sure which one.” Then he nodded to the table at the front, where three men in suits were talking quietly.

Dante pushed his chair back onto two legs, swinging his feet up onto the table, “I thought the city had too many independents for it to be worth their while?”

Morrison grunted, “Number of hunters has gone down. Fewer rookies surviving their first few run ins. Fewer lower rank demons for them to hunt till they learn the ropes. And now there’s New York.” 

Dante drew a sharp breath.

Morrison looked at him out of the corner of his eye, “Just saying.”

“Wait – New York?” Trish asked, looking around Dante to Morrison for an answer.

“One of the big outfits, MacDonald-King got an exclusive contract out of the city council last month.” Morrison explained, “All the hunters in the city had the choice of relocating or joining their ranks.”

“Really?”

Morrison nodded, “About half joined and half are currently relocating.”

“New York is a dead zone. It’s never had more work than a dozen hunters could handle. Capulet has about three hundred and we’re still pushed.” Trish pointed out, “That’s quite an upsize to make. One might set up, but I doubt that it will get an exclusive contract. Not this soon.”

“What does ‘joining’ involve?” Lady asked slowly eyeing the suits.

“The usual, you sign a contract to only work for them, go where they tell you to, fight with the weapons they give you, write up reports, get paid monthly, like I said, the usual.” Morrison shrugged, “I’m guessing they’ll want medical checks and stuff as well.”

None of them looked at Dante. None of them needed to.

“Ah, Tony? Tony Redgrave?” A hand appeared between Dante and Lady.

Dante let his chair fall forward and turned to look at the black and grey BDU clad man who had joined them, “Peter Graham? It’s been a while.” He took the hand and stood up, “Never thought you’d end up in the devil hunting business.”

Peter Graham was around sixty, with iron grey hair and the build of a strong man, growing old against his will. He gave a rueful smile, showing off the laughter lines around his mouth “I’m not, technically, in the devil hunting business. I’m a combat trainer for Knight International.”

“I see. I am, run Devil May Cry.” Dante turned to his companions, “This is Morrison, Lady and Trish.” He nodded to the man beside him, “I met Peter while I was in Eastern Europe working as a mercenary. He was, at one point, one of my commanding officers.”

“You took orders, D… Tony?” Lady asked disbelievingly.

Peter laughed easily, “Badly. Very, very badly. But he always came back. Even when we had a situation go FUBAR, if Tony was in the unit, we knew he’d get some of them home. You run Devil May Cry?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“It’s got something of a reputation. You got investigated for fraud, twice. Too many kill claims, wasn’t it?”

“Claims that were eventually validated.” Morrison piped up, “Tony is very good at what he does. The pencil pushers don’t like it because he messes up their projections.”

Peter nodded, “Still, if your stats are to be believed, you go through demons like a hot knife through butter.”

Lady choked on her coffee.

Trish patted her on the back.

Peter eyed them both surreptitiously, aware he was missing a joke and then turned back to Dante. The devil hunter gave him an easy smile and said, “Scavengers aren’t hard to kill. It’s the upper-tier ones who make me work for it and there aren’t many of them around.”

“I should hope not, if you’re as good as they say.

“Oh, I’m better.” Dante grinned at him.

The other man looked at him, a frown pinching his forehead, but before he could say anything, movement at the front of the toom drew their attention. People were starting to get themselves sorted out and seated. Peter sighed, “Looks like I better get up there. I hope you come on board, Tony. I can’t wait to read your methodology statements.” He shook their hands and left them.

“I’m not sure ‘I trigger into devil form and rip them apart with my claws’ is going to go down well as a methodology statement.” Trish whispered.

Lady whacked her on the shoulder and tilted her chin to Dante. He had a faraway look in his eyes. It was a look they had been seeing more and more lately. They didn’t know what it meant, but they were both sure they didn’t like it.

At the front of the room, one of the men, the only one Dante vaguely recognised, stood up and introduced themselves as the mayor of Capulet City, then went on to introduce the Vice President of Knight International’s demon hunting division and the Strategic Director. Dante didn’t bother catching anyone’s name as the vice president stood up and introduced the rest of the men at the table, letting Lady’s mutterings about sexism in the industry put a smirk on his face instead. And then they got down to business. 

The next two hours could be summed up as Knight International were setting up a branch in the city. They did not have an exclusive contract with the council and were not negotiating one. 

‘Yet’ Dante added in his head. 

It turned out main reason for the meeting had been to head off a mass exodus caused by what happened in New York. Capulet City already boasted three hundred and twelve registered hunters and could easily support a few dozen more, so the last thing the city council wanted was any of those hunters to leave ahead of a takeover that wasn’t happening. The mayor had freely admitted being the one behind the meeting.

Knight International wanted a chance to size up the competition and pitch its contracts to the hunters it wanted to recruit, Trish, Lady and ‘Tony Redgrave’ included. What Dante couldn’t figure out, was how that had taken two hours and kept surreptitiously looking around for a time freak demon until Trish kicked him and nodded to the man, one of the Operations people, Dante through, explaining that they wanted to bring on board some of the current hunters so they had people who knew the city in place to start and would bolster those numbers in time as they took more jobs. 

A few hunters asked about the contracts, and one of the other men, who was involved in recruitment in some form, was quick to explain and make it sound like a good deal. It wasn’t as bad as Morrison had made out, although they would be required to submit more paperwork. From the expressions on the tables around them, at least some of the hunters thought the perks would be worth it. The recruitment man finished added, “You'll also get medical insurance and access to our state-of-the-art facilities for recuperation. We have experts on staff to help recovery for even the worst demon attacks.” Excited murmurs spread around the room.

No one was overtly hostile, but the whole room smelt of weariness and unease. Demon hunters were, by nature, independent individuals, not much concerned with what the ordinary man on the street thought of them. Every one of them baulked at the idea of being an ‘employee’, but as Morrison had pointed out, their numbers in Capulet were down and they desperately needed more boots on the street. Every now and then Dante picked out ‘New York’ in the murmurs of conversation and comments. Everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop. The meeting was winding up when the VP decided to drop it, “Capulet is a hotbed of demon activity, which isn’t surprising given it’s demonic links. Not every place can claim that Sparda himself lived there in the last century.”

Dante went demon still, barely even breathing. Lady elbowed him before anyone else noticed.

“We hope to preserve some of his legacy here and try to bring some recognition to the city for it.”

“Well, shit.” Dante hissed.

“That about sums it up, Dante.” Morrison sighed, “I’ll see you later.” Morrison stood up and moved causally forward, towards where the Knight International reps were answering questions.


End file.
